Seed Savers Exchange. This company focuses on ‘‘America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy’’, so expect many heirloom varieties and native plants.

Like a seed, the effort started small and grew. In 1975, said Josie Flatgard, The Exchange and outreach coordinator for Seed Savers, just 29 people who had seen newspaper ads placed by co-founders ...

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Ira Wallace, 74, has played a key role at Southern Exposure Seed Exchange for about 25 years, and is referred to by those she has mentored as a godmother.